Thursday, November 17, 2016

Police Given Power to Make Traffic Stops Without Cause

In June 2016, the Supreme Court gave police
more power to stop people on the streets and question them, even when it is not
clear they have done anything wrong.In
a 5-3 ruling, the justices relaxed the exclusionary rule and upheld the use of drug
evidence found on a man who was stopped illegally by a police officer in Salt
Lake City.

In an opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas, he wrote because
the man had an outstanding arrest warrant for a traffic violation, the illegal
stop could be ignored. Since the warrant was valid, it predated police investigation,
and it was entirely unconnected with the stop,”

The three female Supreme
Court justices strongly opposed and warned that the ruling will encourage
police to randomly stop and question people because they face no penalty for
violating their constitutional rights against unreasonable searches. They
agreed racial minorities in major cities will be most affected. “The court
today holds that the discovery of a warrant for an unpaid parking ticket will forgive a police officer’s violation of your 4th Amendment rights,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor
wrote in her dissent. “Do not be soothed by the opinion’s technical
language: This case allows the police to stop you on the street, demand your
identification and check it for outstanding

traffic warrants , even if you are
doing nothing wrong,” she wrote. “If the officer discovers a warrant for a fine
you forgot to pay, courts will now excuse his illegal stop and will admit into
evidence anything he happens to find by searching you after arresting you on
the warrant.” Allowing police to stop people to "fish for
evidence" is a serious mistake that will give officers "reason
to target pedestrians in an arbitrary manner,” Sotomayor wrote. We are also at
risk for treating our citizens as second class citizens. Allowing police
to stop people to "fish for evidence" is a serious mistake that
will give officers "reason to target pedestrians in an arbitrary
manner,” Sotomayor wrote.